Hibs' clean sheet helps Scotland trio defend their right to future call-ups, says Ryan Porteous

Hibs relied on their returning internationalists to deliver a clean sheet but, on a day when they could have made up more ground on second-placed Celtic, while also extending their advantage over rivals Aberdeen, the Easter Road side failed to find the net and had to settle for a point.

Ryan Porteous during a Scotland training session. Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group

Such an outcome seemed absurd in the opening 15 minutes as Kyle Magennis, making his league debut for the cub, rattled the inside of the far post with his early attempt and watched in disbelief as it ricocheted out rather into the net.

Martin Boyle was also close, while SPFL top goalscorer Kevin Nisbet was denied in quick succession by the goalkeeper Ross Doohan and a goalline clearance. But as well as they had started the game, they were unable to sustain that attacking pressure. Ross County contributed to that, showing a workrate and intensity that pinned their guests back as their impressive loan signing Charlie Lakin combined with the more well-kent faces of Harry Paton, Michael Gardyne and Ross Sewart, while Iain Vigurs also brought his combative drive and together they kept Alex Gogic, Joe Newell and Magennis busy in the middle of the park and ensured wide men like Martin Boyle and Lewis Stevenson were too preoccupied with defensive duties to unduly trouble the Highland backline as the final half an hour of that first half played out.

On the back foot, there have been few other occasions when Hibs have had eight and nine men behind the ball this season and while they failed to convert industry for composure in front of goal, rarely necessitating Ofir Marciano’s involvement, they gave their guests a workout that frustrated Ross. Although the fact they were able to switch it back on in the second half, having worked their socks off and remained disciplined in nullifying any threat, and succeeded in reasserting their earlier authority, meant that although a breakthrough did not materialise, there was no full-time rollocking.

Taking in the bigger picture, Ross said he is aware of how much the past two weeks have taken out of a squad that was hit by injuries and also saw many of his players called up to their respective national squads and others negotiating road trips to Cove Rangers, Forfar and then Dingwall within the space of a week, leaving little time for recovery and then preparation.

The international recognition could yet be an asset, though, with guys like Ryan Porteous and Paul McGinn keen to build on recent squad involvement and Paul Hanlon looking to add to his cap count.

“It’s about taking it game by game and trying to maintain high standards,” said Porteous, who has stepped up from the Scotland Under-21s. “Maybe there was a bit of stick beforehand with people saying [Scotland] haven’t got the quality at centre-half but [Declan] Gallagher and [Andrew] Considine have shown that the quality in this league is just as good as anything down south and anybody can go in if they are ready.

“I’m delighted to have broken into the squad once and hopefully I’ll get another chance next month. If not, hopefully I’ll get a call from the under-21s.”

A clean sheet on their return to club duty for the Hibs defensive trio will not harm their chances and gives them something to build on, according to Porteous.

“It was brilliant for Paul getting on [for his first cap against Czech Republic] because he’s guided me through games since I came into the team and helped me develop. Hopefully he gets more caps going forward.”

But finding ways to adapt to the differing demands for club and country will have to be part of the learning process, the youngster acknowledged.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult but there is always going to be some challenges, even a little bit of rustiness because you’ve not played for a couple of weeks,” said Porteous, who, unlike his club-mate, watched Scotland’s three matches from the bench. “You maybe saw that in the first half with a couple of misplaced passes because you can lose it that quick. But you have players around you who are experienced enough to guide you through games and they did that in the first half and then, thankfully, we kicked on.

“But it was a missed opportunity. We started well and had chances to go two-up and maybe could have had a penalty. But we were sloppy in the first half and looked like a team who hadn’t played together for a few weeks. But we were never under real threat to concede a goal.

“It is two points lost at the end of the day. But this is not an easy place to come to and win and you could see from their reaction at the end that they were happy with a point and I think that’s maybe testament to how much more they respect us this season.”

“You’ll always look at the results elsewhere afterwards and we are probably at the stage where we are looking at it as two points dropped. We wanted the gap on Aberdeen to become a bit bigger but you look at the positives and we created chances, could have scored, kept a clean shape and were never really under pressure.”

Indeed, as the game progressed, they hammered at the door of County’s goal, looking for the winner. In halting a breakaway, Connor Randall was sent off for cynically stopping Martin Boyle and with the extra man, Hibs intensified the pressure and, one of the most prolific teams in the league, with the division’s leading scorer, they were denied by a determined County side keen to improve on a their poor defensive record.

“With the two players we have up front, not a lot of people have done that,” said Porteous. “In fact, only Aberdeen, Celtic and Motherwell had done that before this game. So credit to their defenders.”

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